Underwater wet cell battery case

ABSTRACT

An underwater wet cell battery case for housing a battery to drive an underwater electrical device and including a housing formed with a body defining a battery-receiving cavity and including a cover secured to such body and cooperating therewith to form a water-tight seal. A mounting bracket is formed with a belt loop for securement to a scuba diver&#39;&#39;s belt and includes swivel means connecting the case thereto for pendulum pivoting of such housing to enable a battery to be placed therein and maintained in an upright position irrespective of maneuvers undertaken by the diver.

United States Patent [191 Koehler [451 Feb. 12, 1974 1 UNDERWATER WETCELL BATTERY CASE [76] Inventor: Carlton L. Koehler, PO. Box 236,

Avalon, Calif.

22 Filed: Aug. 7, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 278,450

Primary ExaminerDonald L. Walton Attorney, Agent, or FirmFulwider PattonRieber Lee & Utecht [57] ABSTRACT An underwater wet cell battery casefor housing a battery to drive an underwater electrical device andincluding a housing formed with a body defining a battery-receivingcavity and including a cover secured to such body and cooperatingtherewith to form a watertight seal. A mounting bracket is formed with abelt loop for securement to a scuba divers belt and includes swivelmeans connecting the case thereto for pendulum pivoting of such housingto enable a battery to be placed therein and maintained in an uprightposition irrespective of maneuvers undertaken by the diver.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 UNDERWATER WET CELL BATTERY CASEBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The underwater wetcell battery case of present invention relates to a case for housing awet cell battery to provide economic means for driving underwaterelectric devices.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many prior art underwater electricdevices have been proposed which include batteries housed in the devicesthemselves thus making it impractical to employ relatively inexpensivewet cell batteries because of the difficulty in maintaining such devicesin an upright position as the devices are manipulated about. Numerousdifferent types of miners battery cases have been proposed forsecurement to a miners belt and the like but such cases suffer theshortcomings that they cannot withstand the high pressures incurred inunderwater diving and fail to provide a means for maintaining thebattery in an upright position when the wearer alters his own position.Applicant is aware of the following U. S. patents on battery cases ofthis general type:

2,592,209 Stamper 2,094,329 Mascuch 2,187,539 Carbonara 3,166,446Hutchison 3,391,029 Orsino 3,540,929 Carson SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Theunderwater wet cell battery case of the present invention ischaracterized by a housing formed with a battery-receiving cavity andincluding a cover secured thereto and having water-tight sealing meansfor sealing such housing against entry of water. The housing ispivotally mounted in pendulum fashion from a belt bracket which includesloop means for receiving adivers belt. Thus, the battery container maybe suspended at the divers side and a battery contained therein will bemaintained in an upright position irrespective of various maneuversaccomplished by the diver.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparentfrom a consideration of the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an underwaterwet cell battery case embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view, in enlarged scale, of a belt bracket includedin the battery case shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, in enlarged scale, takenthrough the battery case shown in FIG. 1;

and

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT bracket, generally designated17, in pendulum fashion by means of a pivot stud 19 so a battery 21carried in such housing will be maintained in an upright positionirrespective of the orientation taken by the belt bracket 17 as aconsequence of various maneuvers accomplished by a diver wearing suchbracket from his belt.

Referring to FIG. 4, the housing body 11 and lid 15 may conveniently bemade of heavy-duty plastic with the interior cavity being of sufficientsize to receive a conventional motorcycle battery having dimensions of 5V2 inches in height, 2 inches deep, and 7 V2 inches long.

Referring to FIG. 3, the housing body 11 has a threaded bore 25 formedin one end thereof with an externally threaded cable fitting, generallydesignated 27, being received therein and being formed with a throughbore having a gland therein for receipt of an O-ring 29 which seals withan electrical cable 31 leading from the interior of such case. Theelectrical cable 31 includes a pair of electrical leads 33 and 35 whichlead to respective positive and negative terminals 37 and 39 of the wetcell battery 21. Still referring to FIG. 3, the housing body 11 isformed interiorly at the end opposite the cable fitting 27 with a deeprecess 41 which receives an acid spill flask 43 which has an openingformed in its top wall for receipt of the lower extremity of an acid-gasvent tube leading from the battery 21. Projecting from the top of theflask 43 is a stand pipe 49 for venting of excess gas, such vent pipe 49projecting downwardly to the central portion of the flask 43 to minimizeany spillage resulting from the case being accidentally overturned.

Referring to FIG. 1, a pair of rings 53 and 55 are mounted on the outerwall of the housing body 11 so a light, propulsion device or the likemay be hooked thereto for storage when not in use.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the cover 15 is cut back around itsperiphery to form a plug portion 57 which is closely received within theopening defined by the top end of the cavity 13 to thus provide supportagainst implosion of the side walls of the housing body 11. The cut backportion forms a peripheral downwardly facing shoulder 59 which has adownwardly opening groove 61 cut therearound for receipt of a sealingO-ring 63 which seals against the top edge of the side walls of the body11. The cover 15 includes a handle 65 whereby the case may be carried byhand when detached from the divers belt.

The opposite ends of the cover 15 are formed with projecting lugs 64which have the respective bales 66 of respective buckles 68 securablethereover, such buckles 68 being mounted at the opposite ends of thehousing body 11.

Referring to FIG. 4, the head of the pivot stud 19 is embedded in theback wall of the housing body 11 and the shank thereof projectsoutwardly through a bore 67 formed in the lower extremity of the beltbracket 17, a washer 69 being fitted over the projecting end of suchstud and a nut 71 being screwed into such end.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the belt bracket 17 is arcuately shaped toaccommodate the hip of the wearer and is formed with an elongated beltportion having two pairs of relatively closed spaced slits 75 and 77formed in the opposite extremities thereof for receipt of the diver'sbelt.

ln operation, the buckles 68 may be released and the cover removed fromthe housing body '11 to enable a motorcycle battery 21 to be installedwithin the cavity 13 with the acid and gas vent tube 45 being receivedin the spill flask 43. The leads 33 and 35 are then connected with therespective positive and negative terminals 37 and 39 of the battery 21and the cover 15 then placed in position. The buckle bales 66 are thenfitted over the respective lugs 64 and the buckles 68 snap closed tosecure the cover 15 in its closed position to cause the O-ring 63 toform a water-tight seal between such cover and the top edge of the sidewalls of the housing body 11. I

The divers belt may then be threaded in one direction through the endslit 75 and back in the opposite direction through the second slit 75andthen returned back through in the one direction through slit 77 and backin through the opposite direction in the end slit 77 to thus cause thebelt to bind the bracket 17 securely in position at the divers hip toprevent slippage of the bracket 17 around such belt.

, The cable 31 leading from the cable fitting 27 may then be connectedwith an underwater electronic device, such as the motor of a propulsiondevice or an underwater lamp. The diver may then go about his task withhis hands being free to maneuver the battery powered underwater deviceand as he descends in a body of water, the pressure built up about thewalls of the housing body 11 and tending to collapse the side and endwalls thereof inwardly will be resisted by means of the cover plugportion 57 which blocks the upper extremities of such side and end wallsagainst collapsing inwardly.

As the diver maneuvers about to accomplish different tasks and altershis orientation from vertical to horizontal and even to an invertedorientation, the battery case will be free to pivot about the pivot stud19 to maintain such battery generally upright thus preventing excessspillage of acid from the overflow tube 45 and keeping the platescovered with electrolyte. However, any current disturbing the positionof such battery case or bumping of such battery case against underwaterobstacles which may result in partial inversion thereof will only causea small amount of acid to escape from the overflow tube 45 and such acidwill be collected in the flask 43. Further, any gases vented from thetube 45 or from the flask 43 will pass through the stand pipe 49 and maybe reduced-by a commercial catalyst to water, thus eliminating thepossibility of hydrogen explosion.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the underwater wet cellbattery case of present invention proin driving underwater electricdevices without the necessity of having a relatively bulky batterymounted in the device itself and hindering maneuvering thereof.

1 claim:

1. An underwater wet cell battery case for housing a bracket for freepivoting of said housing relative to said bracket;

electrical leads for attachment on their respective one ends with theterminals of said battery and on their respective opposite ends with theunderwater electrical device.

2. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 for usewith a wet cell battery having an acid spill tube projecting therefromand including:

an acid flask mounted on the interior of said case and including anopening for receipt of said tube.

3. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said case includes a threaded bore and an annular seal includingexternal threads for engagement with said threaded bore and interiorseal means for sealing with said leads.

4. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid case includes:

a handle for grasping by hand so said case may be carried independent ofsaid belt.

5. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said case is open on one side;

said lid includes plug means closely fitting the open side of said casefor supporting the side walls of said case against buckling inwardlyunder the pressure developed at deep water levels.

6. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said case includes hookmeans for mounting portable devices thereon.

2. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 for usewith a wet cell battery having an acid spill tube projecting therefromand including: an acid flask mounted on the interior of said case andincluding an opening for receipt of said tube.
 3. An underwater wet cellbattery case as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said case includes athreaded bore and an annular seal including external threads forengagement with said threaded bore and interior seal means for sealingwith said leads.
 4. An underwater wet cell battery case as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said case includes: a handle for grasping by hand sosaid case may be carried independent of said belt.
 5. An underwater wetcell battery case as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said case is open onone side; said lid includes plug means closely fitting the open side ofsaid case for supporting the side walls of said case against bucklinginwardly under the pressure developed at deep water levEls.
 6. Anunderwater wet cell battery case as set forth in claim 1 wherein: saidcase includes hook means for mounting portable devices thereon.